The present invention relates generally to the field of stuffed articles such as animals, pillows, toys and the like which consist of an outer hollow member formed of a flexible material such as cloth, leather, plastic or the like and an internal packing such as cotton or wool, batting or stuffing. More particularly, this invention relates to tweezer apparatus which is operable by an artist, craftsman, or the like to push the batting or stuffing into desired niches, crevices or corners of the stuffed article and pack the stuffing or batting to the desired density in the desired places within the stuffed article.
The tweezer apparatus of this invention thus facilitates the efficient manufacture of stuffed articles and enables the manufacture of stuffed articles of improved quality.
The stuffing tweezer apparatus of this invention comprises an elongated body member having a handle portion at one end and a pair of generally parallel leg members extending from the handle portions. The leg members are integral with the handle portion and each of the legs is cantilever supported on the handle portion so that they extend away from the handle portion in a spaced relation. The legs terminate in free working ends, one of which is of a tapered shape and the other of which terminates in a blunt surface.
The tapered shape terminates in a point and facilitates the packing of the stuffing into niches in the stuffed article. The remaining leg member with the blunt surface is operable either in cooperation with the pointed leg member, when the legs are squeezed together, or the leg member that terminates in the blunt surface can be used by itself for the purpose of packing stuffing to a desired density.
The leg members are deflectable toward and away from each other to enable use of the leg members to trap stuffing in desired quantities between the tip ends of the leg members when the tip ends are moved toward each other. The trapped stuffing is releasable from a clamped position between the working ends of the leg members when the leg members are released for movement away from each other to move the working ends into spaced positions thereby enabling accurate placing of the stuffing into an object being stuffed.
The elongated body member of this invention is preferably formed of a resilient plastic material which can readily be molded in the desired shape to provide for an integral one-piece body member.
The leg members are long and relatively thin and are spaced apart in an amount equal to two to three times the combined widths of the leg members. This configuration enables the body member to be quickly manipulated by dexterous fingers so as to quickly transfer stuffing or batting from a bulk source to the inside of an article to be stuffed. Furthermore, the leg members can be easily and quickly manipulated by the fingers so as to place and push the stuffing into the desired crevices and niches in the object being stuffed. The leg members are also readily manipulated so as to pack the stuffing to a desired density.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.